Morgan Evans Peels Away Layers of Himself on “Things That We Drink To” Debut Album

He may be a long way from his home country of Australia, but Morgan Evans is making his mark on country music stateside.

“To be here now [in the U.S.], and to have that moment in Bridgestone, I feel like all those years sort of flash before your eyes a little bit,” Morgan tells One Country. “It’s like ‘this is why I did all that. This is why I went back forth to Australia like 30 times. This is why I left all my family and friends behind to come here.’ All the moments along the way, they all make sense when you actually get to experience something like that, and I feel really grateful to have been able to get to a point to do that.”

That moment Morgan is referring to is his debut performance at Bridgestone arena in Nashville opening up to a sold-out crowd for Chris Young’s Losing Sleep Tour. But that’s not all. The Australian singer also hit the top of the Country Aircheck/Mediabase country charts with his debut single “Kiss Somebody,”giving him a No. 1 right out of the box.

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“It’s amazing. I feel like there’s different levels of it sinking in still. Even when you say it now, it’s like ‘Oh yeah, that happened,” Morgan says. “I guess the best thing about it is, I’ve been on the road so much this year, I’ve been able to feel what it means. Every week I was able to feel what it means to be Top 30, Top 20, Top 10 and then, obviously, went to number one. And hearing the crowd sing it louder and louder every week, no matter where you are in America, it’s wild, it’s crazy.”

“Kiss Somebody” is the first single from Morgan’s debut album,Things that We Drink To,” which he released on Oct. 12. The 11-track project peels away a different layer of the Aussie singer with each cut, allowing the audience to get to know who Morgan Evans really is.

“They’re all these cool things that have happened in my life in the last two and a half years that they’re the things that we drink to. I called the album ‘Things That We Drink To,’ obviously, after the song, which is a tribute to my late manager,” said Morgan. Morgan’s manager, Rob Potts, died Oct. 27, 2017 in a motorcycle accident in Australia.

“When the track listing for this record was coming together, I noticed that there are these things that you could cheers to,” Morgan adds. “Whether that’s finding a new home on the other side of the world, or meeting a girl, or hanging out in the middle of the day with a beer. Or whether it’s losing someone, like raising a glass to the life that you got to share with them. They’re all these different moments that I call them “cheersable moments”.

In addition to the release of his album, Morgan has followed up “Kiss Somebody” with a second single, “Day Drunk,” about shutting out the world and spending a day with your person.

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“Let’s get a little day drunk / Party with our shades on / Play a bunch of old songs / Sing along, get the words wrong (who cares?) / When you’re day drunk / Get down while the sun’s up / Make a little good love like it’s date night / In the daylight and it feels right when you’re / Day drunk, day drunk, yeah when you’re / Day drunk, day drunk,” he sings in the chorus.

“It’s a real song, a real story,” Morgan explains. “It was about Kelsea’s birthday two years ago. I had this day planned, and it was like, ‘we’re gonna eat here, we’re gonna go do this, and blah, blah, blah.’ She got home from a round of tour dates and she was just tired, she came through the door and she was just like, ‘Ugh, I’m so tired. Do you mind if we just close the front door and maybe we should have that champagne over there.’ That’s kind of how the day started and you can listen to the song to see how the rest of it went. But it’s as much about being day drunk on life and hanging out with your girl, as it is about actually drinking a bottle of champagne or whatever.”

Who better to have star in your video than the woman who was the inspiration behind the song, his wife Kelsea Ballerini. The “Day Drunk” video is comprised of home videos that Kelsea and Morgan took while vacationing in the surf and the sand.

Photo by Tammie Arroyo/AFF-USA.com

When asked if Morgan had a favorite song on the album, the 33-year-old didn’t hesitate to pick the song that features Kelsea on background vocals, “Dance With Me.” The song was written by Morgan and his producer Chris DeStefano. The idea for the song came to Morgan just weeks after first meeting Kelsea.

“If I had to pick one, it would be ‘Dance With Me.’ It just felt like the most pure and honest moment of writing, and every time I listen to it, it takes me back to that feeling,” Morgan reveals.

5 Things You Need To Know About Morgan Evans

I grew up in New Castle, Australia. Which I would not put on a tourism itinerary, but was an amazing place to grow up. Real working class town, but on the beach, so great combination of those things.

Surfing is my sport.

I grew up playing rugby and tennis.

The American sport that I’ve gotten into is ice hockey. I feel like that’s probably something to do with the magic around the Preds the last couple years. I came to town at the right time to really jump on that bandwagon.

A New Yorker that made her way to the South, Lisa got her love of country music from her dad, who always played the classics. However, her love of fried pickles, a southern staple, came from Blake Shelton, who made her try her very first one. With 20 years experience in the music biz—previously at the helm of Country Weekly Magazine —Lisa loves to de-stress by going to the movies, playing and watching sports or just being outdoors.

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